Girlfriends, May We Talk, Please? Let's Talk About "The Help"...



Remember how we've all loved "The Help?"   It's finally coming to the theaters this August and I just wanted to remind you!  So, here's a preview...







See you there Penny, Deb, Marci, Sandi, Jaime, Queenie, Jessica, Adrien, Jennifer, Jenn, Rachel, Deb Shanler, Jinger, Nicole, and everyone!  I'll miss sharing it with you...  :]

Your Friend/Deb/TheBookishDame

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"Lincoln's Diary"~ Do You Really Know What Happened?

Book Summary:

"Tantalizing ... Intelligent ... Riveting ... Sarah is a splendid

protagonist ..."

Sarah Morgan wants the truth, but if the truth proves Abraham Lincoln planned his own assassination, it could get her killed.
While digging into her own family secrets, Sarah learns that a private Lincoln diary her mysterious grandfather once owned has gone missing. And when she hunts down a professor who likely swindled her mother out of it, she’s accused of his murder. Running from police and a stalker who’s bent on destroying any evidence the diary exists, Sarah turns to the only person she trusts – herself. But after she stares death in the face and reaches out for help she discovers betrayal is right around the corner.

 Lincoln’s Diary is a fast paced journey into a young woman’s head as she weighs the price of truth against the cost of keeping secrets.

Author's Biography:

I live in the Pacific Northwest, spending as much time as I can writing and enjoying family. 

A few years ago I read a little book by an acquaintance of mine (I spend a lot of time at a local coffee shop).  The book was called "The Angel Inside".  And, I've been trying to release my angel from its rock ever since.

As for credentials, I received a bachelors degree in English from USC.  But, I think that was back when we wrote on parchment.

Abraham Lincoln's Presidential Library & Museum:  Click on link below

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-NcZ1Dyo3Yc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My Humble Review:

I need to tell you right up front that I've been a devotee of the Lincolns since I was 10 years old...that would be about 50 years, then.

I'm most intrigued, admittedly, with Mary Todd Lincoln. She was a Southern girl...a lady by all standards of the word, a tiny, feminine thing; one accustomed to delicacies and the sweet graces of needlework, reading and music, she had maids and servants, albeit slaves.  These were the times, and these were the amenities of her very well-to-do station in her life.  The Todds were a family of renown and respect, as well as of wealth.  Mary Todd was a young woman sought after by highly desirable young men of station and society. She was known for her loveliness, her intelligence and her social abilities.

Why, then, would she forego all of the above and choose a rather clumsy, too tall, not exactly handsome, poor man from a destitute farm in a state not really recognized as the genteel South?  It continues to flabbergast me!  But, trusting her instincts as I've come to, I know she saw in him and felt it strongly, a flash of greatness.  She must have seen a brilliance that out-shown all the men she'd ever known or met in her life.  He must have had a quiet dignity or gentleness or persuasiveness of men that made her give up and give in all she had and could have had.  I find that just startling.  Also, she chased him until he married her!

I started from that perspective because I wanted to view "Lincoln's Diary" from a woman's eyes.  Fowler's use of Sarah, his daunting and tireless protagonist, was someone I could get hold of as a woman obsessed and relentless, wanting to find out the mystery of her grandfather's lost Lincoln's diary; and, the consequences of following the trail to it.

DL Fowler is a writer who will grab you by the nape of your neck and have you carrying his book around with you all day.  You'll be obsessed with it, so you may as well take in the car with you, and take it to work, too...for lunch.  Sneak reads whenever and wherever you can because you'll want to know what happens! This one's going to shake you like a yorkshire terrier.

Having understood we don't know all that's going on behind the scenes at top levels of our government, I enjoy the many books written about conspiracies surrounding Washington.  Some are great reads, and some are so-so. I recall reading somewhere about a certain private library that only the President has a key and code to so he can read the letters and diaries of former Presidents and such.  These writings are to have such information that's never been revealed to the public; such as, the real truth about JFK, Area 51, and other things.  "The Lincoln Diary" put me in mind of that library...in the sense that things may sometimes happen in Washington and amongst men that we can never know or prove.

This is a perfect read for women and men this summer.  It's fast paced. The writing is excellent.  And, Mr. Fowler knows his way around a "maneuver" or two which adds suspense and action to his prose.  A novel I recommend without reservation.

Please see more about Mr. Fowler at:

http://www.dlfowler.com/Lincoln_s_Diary.html

The Bookish Dame/Deborah

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"Tapestry Baby" ~ Tatooed Man and Pretty Girl Produce A Cartoonish Offspring!

A Bit About the Book:
The moment she learned a mysterious tattooed man had made her pregnant, Karin was convinced she would give birth to a baby whose skin was a tapestry of color. When Anna is born normal in appearance, Karin still believes her child is predestined for some greater purpose, one she can't provide.

She begins a journey, searching for a sign whether or not she should keep her child, and along the way discovers her life is intertwined with those of people she has never met, raising the question of whether anyone is ever really in control of their own destiny.

Author's Introduction:

A creative writing professor at California University of Pennsylvania, Carole Waterhouse is the author of two novels, The Tapestry Baby and Without Wings, and a collection of short stories, The Paradise Ranch. 

Ms Waterhouse Writes About Writing Literature:

The Musicality of Writing
By Carole Waterhouse

When I tell people I teach creative writing, one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is whether or not writing can be taught.
Parts of it I’m convinced can be, particularly elements of craft, such as an understanding of how point of view works, effective ways of developing characters, and how to make readers feel an emotional connection to your work. Other parts of writing can certainly be developed over time and through experience, but I’m not so sure they can actually be taught. One of these is the rhythm of writing, a sensitivity to the way language sounds. Some people just seem to be able to make their words sing.

During one of my recent classes, we discussed a new story one of my students was working on and I couldn’t help but admire the simple loveliness of her writing style. She chose words that had sounds that seemed to echo off each other, had lovely rhythms written into her lines that made them sound more like poetry than prose, and knew when to write short sentences for emphasis and when to write longer ones that relished in detail. She had it. That gift for writing lyrical prose. And as much as I’d like to, I can’t take any credit for teaching her. These were qualities she possessed when she entered the program.

When I write, I find myself making word choices based on their sounds as much as their meaning, sometimes even have a prescribed rhythm in my head that I need to satisfy and will search for words that "fit" in just the right way. Sometimes when writing a story, I feel as though I’m trying to compose lyrics as much as telling a tale.

Just how much the sound of language is part of my work first became apparent to me in graduate school. My husband, who used to restore antique clocks and other mechanical devices, was putting on the finishing touches to a music box he had been working on for quite some time. He was trying to get the cylinder lined up in the best possible position and ended up playing the same little music box tune over and over again while I was writing a story that was due to be workshopped the next day.

The following afternoon, I sat in class with that nervous feeling I always had while fellow grad students read and assessed my work. A woman whose writing I especially admired broke the silence. "I love the writing in this," she said, "but there’s something about the rhythm that bothers me. It’s as though all the sentences have the same sound to them." I read over my own lines and recognized it immediately. I had written the sound of the music box song into my story. Line after line after line had the same sound, the same ups and downs and lingering syllables.
Years later, when I was writing my first novel, I tried listening to the same classical flute album over and over whenever I wrote, hoping that listening to the same music would help give consistency to my writing style. After several weeks, I stopped. The only effect I could see was that flute music, which I had always loved, was beginning to grate on my nerves. I could never tell afterwards which parts of the novel I had written with it playing and which without. The language for the book found its own rhythm without me trying to force it.

Words, it seems, tell their own story. And sometimes, they sing their own songs.

A creative writing professor at California University of Pennsylvania, Carole Waterhouse is the author of two novels, The Tapestry Baby and Without Wings, and a collection of short stories, The Paradise Ranch.

Her fiction has appeared in Arnazella
, Artful Dodge
, Baybury Review
, Ceilidh
, Eureka Literary Magazine
, Forum
, Half Tones to Jubilee
, Massachusetts Review
, Minnetonka Review
, Oracle: The Brewton-Parker College Review
, Parting Gifts
, Pointed Circle
, Potpourri
, Seems
, Spout
, The Armchair Aesthete
, The Griffin
, The Styles
, Tucumari Literary Review
, Turnrow
, and X-Connect.
A previous newspaper reporter, she has published essays in an anthology, Horse Crazy: Women and the Horses They Love, and Equus Spirit Magazine. Her book reviews have appeared in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pittsburgh Press, and The New York Times Book Review.
You can visit Carole’s website at www.Carolewaterhouse.com.

Deborah/TheBookishDame says:
It's a book laden with quite interesting characters not the least of which is the tatooed man who fathered the baby in question!  Not your ordinary book.  Experimental reading!

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Incest Survivors Will Cheer for: "The River of Forgetting" by Jane Rowan

"The River of Forgetting" is a book that is so rare and so unusually told that it will strike at the mind and emotional depths of children of incest, I guarantee it.

About the Author:

JANE ROWAN

is a survivor of childhood trauma and betrayal and is passionate about sharing her healing experiences, including Inner Child work. She is a New England writer and poet. She retired from a long and successful professional career to have more time to write and to live fully. (Jane's name is a pseudonym.)  Jane is also an artist.

Her website can be found at:  http://www.janerowan.com

Jane's booklet, Caring for the Child Within - A Manual for Grownups, is a short but powerful guide to nurturing your Inner Child.
 

Her memoir about her healing from incest is titled The River of Forgetting. It was issued in Dec. 2010 by Booksmyth Press.

 

See Jane's Inner Child memoir blog for thoughts on inner child, recovery, and writing memoir.

Read Jane's article, Soothing Your Inner Child, a short set of hints taken from the booklet on Caring for the Child Within. Or read her articles on Recovered memories of childhood abuse and Creativity and the Inner Child.

Find Jane on Facebook and Twitter.

An Excerpt:

≈ Prologue: Rivers of Detail, Oceans of Fog

It's one of the good memories. My father is bending over the hull of the upturned boat, picking out the old caulking, scraping away at last year’s paint and barnacles. He uses a putty knife to push ropes of smelly, tarry oakum into the cracks. He will paint the boat gray, with a rusty fouling-resistant paint on the underwater part to keep the barnacles from slowing it down.

The fierce sweating sun is trapped on the oyster-shell shore between the steep bank and the water, making an island of heat. My father wears cut-off pants and one of those ribbed cotton undershirts with the thin straps. His shoulder muscles bunch and his freckled skin is red. He has a cap to protect his balding scalp, or else he has tied a handkerchief at the corners to make a rough covering. He swears occasionally when the knife slips.
I come near him and poke at the soft blisters of gray paint. I can only stand the heat for a short while, but I scrape until my eight-year-old arms get tired. Then I walk out onto the wooden dock to watch the tide come in and the little fishes swim. The sun-bleached scene is clear: the brown leather sandals I have to wear against the sharp oyster shells, the scarred wooden sawhorses holding up the boat, the strands of brown seaweed doodling the high tide mark, even the nails in the cedar posts of the dock. Hours of pleasure and idleness.

I HAVE OTHER MEMORIES, blurred in a sickly fog. Urgent night voices behind closed doors. “What can we do about it?” “There’s nothing we can do.” “She’s too young to remember; she’ll be all right.” And memories murkier still, fastened into my spine and pelvis with binding force, huge with emotion, no pictures.

When the foggy memories arrived, they rocked my world, forcing me to ask dizzying questions: What is truth and how do I know it? Is it in the Kodak-sharp image? In the wrenching gut, the nausea? How do I keep the clear-cut detail and also give the nebulous shadow its weight, neither denying the other?

This is the story of how the past overtook me, how I found help, and how at last I integrated the shadows of my childhood into my life. In the process, I found unexpected love, joy, and freedom.


My Review:
This is a difficult review to write.  I want to tell you this book has touched my soul and psyche in ways that nothing else I've read on the subject has ever been able to.  That makes it difficult to summarize for me.

Over the years, as all of us probably have, I've read numerous books sharing survival stories of alcohol, drug use, dysfunctional families, incest, child abuse and the like.  Not until this book has any one of them had the same impact.  I attribute alot of that to the fact that Jane Rowan is not whining and enlisting the sympathies of the reader...or even asking for the blame to be placed not only on the offending father or mother, but on the opposite parent or guardian.

Jane Rowan's book is not a matter-of-fact story, either, but a real and honest walk with her in discovery.  It's as  if we're on an excavation, an uncovering of an ancient ruin (an apt word) that has such power to harm that it's a cancer that's virtually inoperable unless it's painstakenly routed out.  What a new concept!  No crying and subcon-scious or conscious begging for "poor me" readers--just "here's what I uncovered, it was such a journey to get there!"

Ms Rowan writes her non-fiction book like a novel.  It's a book so easy to read that one has nearly finished before it's realized.  I had a hard time putting it down.  The hours rushed by as I was caught up in her powerful and easy prose. 

One of the most intriguing and significant books of its kind I've had the pleasure of reading and reviewing.

Please check out Jane's website and follow some of her places where you'll find interviews of her.  I was so blown away when she noted that "a young Jack Nicolson" could be used to portray her father, and she could see "Sally Fields" playing her mother.  It really put these parents in perspective...beautiful and charming people.

"The River of Forgetting" can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other places where books are sold.   Other bookblogs will have more on this author and book:  http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/  will provide the next stop today.

5 stars for non-fiction

Deborah/YourBookishDame

*Book gratis for honest, personal review

Publisher: The Booksmyth Press, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
255 pages, 6 x 9 trade paperback
$14.95
ISBN: 9780981583020

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"Friendship Bread" ~ Beachy Book Doesn't Disappoint

From Publishers Weekly

Baked goods conquer profound grief in Gee's by-the-numbers debut. The sorrow felt by Julia Evarts and her husband, Mark, over the death of their son, Josh, six years earlier has chipped away at the foundation of their marriage, but after Julia finds a starter batch of Amish friendship bread on her porch one day, the yeasty surprise helps patch up some spiritual wounds. She shares the recipe starter with a few people in her town, and pretty soon everyone is making it and finding their own simple narratives of bread-driven healing. But none have a harder path to the foregone conclusion than Julia and her sister, Livvy, who was with Josh when he died and has yet to be forgiven by Julia. Yes, the premise is hokey, but Gee's women characters are written with affection (much more so than the men in their lives, who are essentially decorative). Readers looking for a quick, easy fix of heartwarming optimism could do worse. And, of course, the recipe is included. (Apr.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Introduction to the Author:

The novel was inspired by my own experience with Amish Friendship Bread, when my daughter brought it home along with a bag of starter she’d received from a friend. I was eating the last few crumbs when I started to think about a woman who receives the starter and just doesn’t want to do it. I saw a sadness hanging over this character and I knew I wanted to find out more. I started writing and the story quickly took shape--more importantly, it soon became clear that the book wasn’t about any one person, but an entire community ready for change and connection.





My Review:
"Friendship Bread" was a book I didn't expect much from other than a good story about the proverbial friendships between women, which I'd lost interest in some time ago. It was touted by several book review spots that I researched, however, and I thought it deserved my attention. In this sort of case, I often go for an audio book to cover the base, and I borrowed it from my digital library locally.

I was pleasantly surprised that I not only enjoyed this novel, but I found myself wanting to know what happened to each of the characters and what the final results would be. My favorite character dynamic was that between the woman who had lost her child and her sister who had been babysitting him at the time of his accidental death. This was a storyline within the book that spoke to the complexities of love and fraternal friendship, forgiveness and redemption of one's own heart, as well as the redemption of all relationships.  Beautifully examined and conveyed to readers.

I have heard of this Amish friendship starter bread.  My daughter was gifted with it when she first moved to her new town in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  Someone in her church family gave her a jar of it, telling her she needed to nurture it and then pass a bit along to someone else, keeping a part for herself.  She and her husband tried and tried to save that bit of starter, but they really didn't understand it! She called me about it, talked to her church friends about it, and stared at it in consternation.  Having grown up in Boston, she was aghast at leaving this fermenting thing on her counter and thinking of baking with it! Finally, she left it alone...and eventually tossed it out. 

Because of this near miss with my daughter's Friendship Bread, I have a sense of the nurturing process involved in this starter. And the guilt at failure with it!  There's a responsibility for the starter, a true link to the one who gave it to you, a promise to nurture it and pass it on to a special someone else.

"Friendship Bread"  turned out to be a surprising and worthy read.  It's a novel I think many who love women's literature focused on friendship and family relationships will enjoy.  While it's not especially intellectual or original in its theme, it is a book that readers can enjoy for a beachy read.  I recommend the audio book, as well.

3.5 stars ~  I liked it!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Destined for Distinguished Awards~ "Tabloid City" by Pete Hamill

Published by:  Hachette Publishing/Little, Brown and Co.

Hardback

Ppgs:  228





Summary: Publisher's Weekly:

Hamill (North River) forays into Dominic Dunne society crime territory before veering uncomfortably into a far-fetched terrorist plot. Just as the last ever edition of the New York World is getting put to bed, veteran editor Sam Briscoe stops the presses for a sensational murder: socialite Cynthia Harding and her personal secretary are found stabbed to death in Harding's Manhattan town house. The story unfolds in time-stamped, you-are-there bursts that follow a large cast, including several journalists; Cynthia's adopted daughter; a disgraced Madoff-like financier; a media blogger; the murdered secretary's husband, a police officer assigned to a counterterrorism task force, as well as their son, a convert to radical Islam; and best of all by the weary and worldly Briscoe himself. Hamill is at his best in the Briscoe portions, rich in print anecdotes and mournful for a passing age, but as both the initial murders and the closing of the paper play into a larger plot and the young extremist becomes the driving force of the novel, the quality slides precipitously, and, as if sensing defeat, the book is brought to a too abrupt conclusion with most of the principals gathered for a group of scenes that strain credulity. Hamill nails the dying newsroom, but gets lost on the terrorism beat. (May)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Who Is Pete Hamill?

Pete Hamill is a novelist, journalist, editor, and screenwriter. He is the author of 20 previous books including the bestselling novels Forever and Snow in August and the bestselling memoir A Drinking Life. He lives in New York City.


Journalism:
In the summer of 1960, Hamill went to work as a reporter for the New York Post and began to learn his craft (the story is told in his 1994 memoir, A Drinking Life.) In 1962-63, a prolonged newspaper strike led him to writing magazine articles and by the fall of 1963 he was in Europe as a correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post. Based for six months in Barcelona, and five months in Dublin, he roamed Europe, interviewing actors, movie directors, novelists and ordinary citizens. He was in Belfast with his father on Nov. 22, 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and he witnessed both sides of the sectarian quarrel mourning the fallen American president.
Hamill returned to New York in August 1964, covered the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, and worked briefly at the New York Herald Tribune as a feature writer. In the fall of 1965, he started writing a column for the New York Post. By Christmas, he was in Vietnam. His newspaper career would go on for decades, at the Post, the New York Daily News, the Village Voice, and New York Newsday. He would serve briefly as editor of the Post, and later as editor-in-chief-of the Daily News. His longer journalistic work has appeared in New York magazine, the New Yorker, Esquire, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and other periodicals.
From the beginning, he has been a generalist, not a specialist. He has written about wars in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Lebanon and Northern Ireland. He covered the urban riots of the 1960s. He has covered local and national politics. He wrote about the New York underclass too, their hopes and ambitions, and sometimes, tragedies. But he also wrote about jazz, rock 'n' roll (winning a 1975 Grammy for Best Liner Notes for Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks"), boxing, baseball, and art. At different periods (in addition to Barcelona and Dublin), he has lived in Mexico City, San Juan, P.R., Rome, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, N.M. He has always returned to New York.


Fiction:
In 1968, Hamill published his first novel, a thriller called "A Killing for Christ," about a plot to assassinate the Pope on Easter Sunday in Rome. This was followed by a short semi-autobiographical novel called "The Gift", where he first began using his Brooklyn roots in a fictional form. Most of his fiction is also set in New York City, including "Snow in August" (1997), "Forever" (2003), and "North River" (2007). All were from Little, Brown and Company, as is his eleventh novel, "Tabloid City", to be published in May 2011.


In addition, he has published more than 100 short stories in newspapers, following the example of fiction writers from O. Henry to Alberto Moravia. In the New York Post, the Hamill short stories were part of a series called "The Eight Million." In the Daily News, the stories ran under the title "Tales of New York."  He has published two volumes of short stories: "The Invisible City: A New York Sketchbook" (Random House. 1980) and "Tokyo Sketches" (Kodansha. 1992).


Memoir, Art, Photography:
Hamill's 1994 memoir, "A Drinking Life", was a critical and commercial success. It chronicled his journey from childhood into his thirties, his embrace of drinking and the decision to abandon it. The late Frank McCourt once told him that Hamill's book encouraged him to complete his own memoir, "Angela's Ashes." Hamill's portrait of "Downtown: My Manhattan" (Little, Brown. 2004) is a combination of memoir, history, and reporting about the area of Manhattan where he has spent much of his adult life. It includes some of his own reporting on the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, at which he was present.
His passions for art and for Mexico drive his book on the muralist Diego Rivera (Abrams. 1999), a lavishly illustrated volume that explores, among other matters, the effects of ideology on Rivera's art. In "Tools as Art" (Abrams. 1995) he moves through the Hechinger Collection, exploring the idea of tools and the way artists see them (and use them). His biographical essay on the artist was featured in "Underground Together: The Art and Life of Harvey Dinnerstein" (Chronicle Books. 2008). Much of Dinnerstein's work is infused with the light of Hamill's Brooklyn, and the  people who live there, walking its streets, riding its ferries and subways.
Hamill has often said that he has learned much from photographersoften about their work. In "New York: City of Islands" (Monacelli Press. 2007), he celebrates his home city as captured by the lens of Jake Rajs. "New York Exposed: Photographs from the Daily News" (Abrams.2001) contains an extended essay about the New York Daily News and its crucial role in the story of photography in American journalism. In his introduction to "Mexico: The Revolution and Beyond" (Aperture. 2003), Hamill tells the story of  Agustin Victor Casasola, whose great photographs helped define the Revolution of 1910-1920 and the  surge towards modernity that arrived when the shooting ended. In his introduction to "A Living Lens: Photographs of Jewish Life From the Pages of the Forward" (Norton. 2007) Hamill evokes the great days of the Yiddish press. His text for "The Times Square Gym" (Evan. 1996) explores the lives of the prizefighters in John Goodman's superb photographs. His introduction to "Garden of Dreams: Madison Square Garden" (Stewart Tabori & Chang.2004) offers a context for the sports photography of George Kalinski. His own Irish heritage permeates the text for "The Irish Face in America" (Bulfinch. 2004) as seen by the photographer Jim Smith.


Awards and Honors:
Across five decades, Hamill has received  numerous awards and honors. Among them:
  -2011. The A.J. Liebling Lifetime Achievement Award. Boxing Writers of America.
       -2010. The Louis Auchincloss Prize. Museum of the City of New York
      -2010. Doctor of Letters. St. John's University. Queens N.Y.
      -2010. Honorary high school diploma. Regis High School. New York, N.Y.  
      -2009.Chosen as one of 400 Most Influential New Yorkers in Past 400 Years. Museum of the City of New York
       -2005.Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. National Society of Newspaper Columnists
       -2000. Lifetime Achievement Award. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
       -1999. Listed as one of the noted Irish-Americans of the 20th Century. Irish-America magazine.
       -1998. Hall of Fame. Deadline Club/ Society of Professional Journalists    
       -1998. Damon Runyon Award. Denver Press Club.
       -1993. ACE award. National Cartoonists Society
       - 1992. Peter Kihss Award. Society of  Silurians.
       - 1989. Lifetime Achievement Award. Society of Silurians.
       -1980. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary). Pratt Institute.
       -1975. Grammy award for Best Liner Notes (Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks")
       -1971. Spur award for best movie script ("Doc"). Western Writers of America.
       -1962. Meyer Berger Award. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism


My Humble Review:
The very distinguished Mr. Pete Hamill has written a brilliant novel that is destined for the highest accolades and awards in literary circles, in my humble opinion.  With a genius and brilliance that startles in virtually every paragraph and page, Mr. Hamill stands as an author destined to make history in our classical American literature. Of course, he has already done that...


Not only will you find the living pulse of New Yorkers in "Tabloid City," but you will experience the extraordinary: the viseral, psychological, emotional and internal language of his protagonists. I was literally knocked back in my seat with Hamill's knowledge of a woman's inner dialog in her intimate life. And, his ability to reach inside the mind of a radical religious follower is particularly rare to the degree it's conveyed in his novel.


Hamill's method incorporated of tabloid-style vignettes to relay his characters' lives echos the 21st century's mindset, culture, and reliance upon flash news, grit/trash and instant gratification  we've so become familiar. This commentary on our world today, where real news and newpapers have become virtually obsolete; however, is not to say he compromises his own genius creative skills.


As a student of fine arts and art history myself, Pete Hamill shed a light on my ignorance of contemporary, notable artists and methods.  I had to research!  I was simply chagrined to realize this important part of my life had been left stagnant in these recent years. My hand had stopped reaching for "ArtNews" since I left Boston for FL nearly 8 yrs ago. "Tabloid City" touched me "at home" and it gave me some much needed enlightenment.


In "Tabloid City" you will find a great love story, a murder and suspense, humor, power punches of knowledge, wit, the urbane and vanity of NYC, quotes from the rich and famous, death and dying,love and competition. Literature is discussed in thrilling, suscinct terms that shed a light of wisdom often not considered.  We hear of Murder Inc., the brassy mofia of Brooklyn, radical Muslim thoughts and lifestyle, and others of the peoples and cultures of the City. I loved reading about the old-time reporter going after the murder story.


Pete Hamill is an author you must read simply for your own literary education. Not to have read him will sadly leave you ignorant of an important generation which he's witnessed/ing and continues to report.


For your personal collection and library, go immediately and get a first edition of this novel. This is a book that will be known as important and will be receiving awards.


Deborah/TheBookishDame

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L.A. BANKS ~ Author Beloved By Many Seriously ILL

Sadly, it has come to my attention that the beloved author Ms L. A. Banks is gravely ill with cancer, and is need of financial assistance to meet her hospital expenses.  Having written many a best selling book series in the paranomal and suspense genre, Ms Banks is a favorite of a great crowd of my readers and readers worldwide.

Please go to either the Leslie E. Banks website as seen above on her banner to learn more about her situation and how you can be of help; or, you can find another way to assist by going to:  http://www.caridad.com/blog
Caridad Pineiro, the NY Times Best Selling author of such novels as "The Calling" her vampire series (http://inthcallingnovels.com/ ) and other paranormal romance novels, is a dear friend of Ms Banks and has details of an Ebay fundraiser for her.

The Bookish Libiria joins the hundreds of L. A. Banks fans in prayers for her well-being and for her comfort in these dire times.  God bless you and yours, dear Leslie...

*If you would like to discuss this situation, please leave comments for me.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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BOOK TOUR! "Tracking Shadows" by Regan Black ~ A Syfy Noir You Have To Read!

The Bookish Dame is proud to bring you this Book Tour in association with The Book Snob Tours~

Please go to Regan Black's website to win a copy of "Tracking Shadows" and other gifts...including a guest appearance in her next 2096 novel!

New! SyFy Mobster Novel "Tracking Shadows" recreates Film Noir in 2096

Book Summary:

The latest installment from 2096!

In 2096, the American government has gone above and beyond to ‘protect its citizens’, even regulating sugar and coffee. Every new legislative measure opens up a black market for an enterprising person willing to seize the opportunity.

In Chicago, Slick Micky is the king of smuggling. Known to deliver anything, anytime, anywhere, he specializes in caffeine and sugar and works in the anonymity of shadows. But recently an old enemy is tired of waiting for Micky’s empire to crumble and has called in the best assassin in the business to take him out.

Trina Durham is an assassin with a sterling reputation, thanks to her unique ability to induce deadly hallucinations. When Slick Micky killed her best friend, she left Chicago – forever. She’s back now, unable to resist the perfect opportunity for vengeance. But no one warned her Slick Micky might as well be a shadow. Or that shedding light on the man and his secrets would put both her heart and reputation at risk.

About the Author:
Regan Black writes action packed paranormal and urban fantasy novels so readers can savor a fantastic escape from the daily grind. Raised in the Midwest and California, she now lives with her family in the South Carolina Lowcountry where the abundance of history and legend fuels her imagination. Experience a Regan Black adventure at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords. You can keep up with Regan at ReganBlack.com, twitter @ReganBlack and Facebook.

An Interview with Regan Black:
We are so delighted to welcome Ms Black to The Bookish Libraria, and she's agreed to answer some questions that will help us get to know her personally.  So, let's begin:

1) Please give us a description of your writing area. If you don't mind, we'd love you to be as specific as possible...what's on your desk, what do you see in front of you right now, do you have any "good luck" things, etc.?
What a great question! I use an alphasmart NEO when I'm drafting my books so I can write anywhere. My most effective 'stationary' place to write is at my grandmother's antique secretary desk, but right this minute I'm at my office desktop computer. My desk is an armoire style piece, so I could close the doors on the clutter, but that's never actually been accomplished.
As usual, there's way too much on my desk, but it's a semi-controlled state of chaos. (If you ignore the many post-it notes featuring things like the progress on my blog scheduling, radio interview reminders, little motivators, etc. I try to keep the writing surface relatively controlled, with a notebook, and a spiral bound pocket folder for immediate, task related things.
The desk 'walls' and doors are another story. I keep a Walt Disney World lanyard with my favorite pins looped over one door and I installed some cork board tiles on the inside of the doors to pin things like cartoon strips that tickle me (currently there's a Pearls Before Swine that makes everyone laugh). Along with cards and memos, there's also a Captain Underpants coloring page my son gave to me years ago to make me take a laugh break when I'm working. One of my favorite pictures of my husband and kids and our first greyhound has a permanent place here too, as well as several candid shots of close friends.
The shelves above my monitor are a hodgepodge of things to make me smile, spark creativity or encouragement, and otherwise distract me when editing or marketing gets hairy. There's an Orange m&m screen cleaner, a small Figment plush from WDW, a Snoopy at a typewriter keeping my alphie USB cable safe, and the Pixies at play and Writer at work signs are always within easy reach. Of course my desk wouldn't be complete when school's out without the "Do Not Disturb until:" sign. I used to have to put up a post-it note with a time so the kids wouldn't interrupt me. (No, a closed door with basic first aid instructions and the typical "don't tell me unless you're on fire or suffering arterial bleeding" didn't work when they were younger) I guess seeing the end-time gave my kids hope that I would indeed return to the real world. Now, it's nostalgic.

 2) When and where were you when the idea for "Tracking Shadows" first came to you? What inspired you?

Tracking Shadows came to me while I was in the kitchen brainstorming with my daughter. I'd just spoken with my agent about possible ways to launch a Regan Black Facebook fanpage. We'd decided an original novel, posted in daily segments was possible, but we hadn't decided who it should feature. My daughter and I agreed that Slick Micky had a lot of potential as a lead character, so I mulled it over and when that opening scene came to me, I knew I had the project in hand.
I suppose it's a theme of my writing, but I always get inspiration from where we've been, both in my research and in my character development. Sometimes the past can stay there, but often it reaches up and interferes or influences the present.

3) What did you want to grow up to be when you were a little girl? Did you ever see yourself as a writer?I was groomed from a very early age to be an independent entrepreneur. What I wanted to be ranged from a special ed teacher to dolphin trainer to veterinarian, but it looks like independent entrepreneur won out (after wife and mom). I can't say I ever specifically dreamed of being a writer, though many a scrapbook holds proof I've been writing since I learned to hold a pencil.

4) Did any of your teachers ever identify you as a "good writer?" Or, was there someone else who gave you the support to know you could write a novel?

In sixth grade, a teacher told me my poetry was worthless. In high school, my literature teachers thought I would go into journalism. Turns out my first publications were poetry and I prefer making stuff up rather than reporting on the real world.
I'd never believed I could write a novel, I was focused solely on the poetry and essay side, until my husband's office got remodeled. He came home to work for a few months and it really interrupted my daily writing rhythm. One day the poetry was rainbows and sunshine, then next it read like I was ready to toss myself out the nearest window.
The remedy? I fictionalized our romance, trying to remember what I'd found so appealing about him. Turns out that book is the worst romance novel ever, but it was a full length novel, and a turning point.
Encouragement to pursue a career as a novelist came from my husband, my grandmother (of the antique desk) and my closest friends who laughed with me then, and keep laughing with me over the professional and personal ups and downs today.

5) Who are your favorite authors?

Oh, that's a loaded question. I read as much as possible! Kresley Cole, Sabrina Jeffries, Nora Roberts, Clive Cussler, Holly Jacobs, J.K. Rowling, Karen Hawkins, Jayne Ann Krentz are just the tip of the iceberg. And I've met so many talented authors since venturing into publishing and many of them have been kind enough to offer advice, inspiration, and encouragement. I always learn so much from reading books as well as from authors who invest their time to help other writers.

6) What are you reading right now?

Debra Webb's new book, "Dirty," and I'm loving it!

7) Tell us something you want to share with us, please.

I'd like to encourage people to invest the time and energy to discover their inherent talents and strengths. I can whip up a brand new world for a novel, but I can't bake a cake from scratch. It is such a blessing to be able to create stories that entertain readers. It wasn't a straight or smooth road that got me to this point, but I've learned the journey's where the real fun is anyway (although there's not much fun in a journey that requires you to eat anything I try to bake from scratch).
Many people I talk with online or in person resist following what they love and what they're good at, afraid that what comes easy to them isn't a valuable commodity. But we all have something we excel at, something we can share with others to better ourselves and our world, and it fosters contentment and true happiness when we uncover it. Debra Webb's new book, "Dirty," and I'm loving it!

Thanks for talking with us, Regan!
Thanks so much for hosting this stop on the Tracking Shadows blog tour. Your interview questions were delightful and it's a pleasure to be here with you and your readers.


The Dame's Review:
First, let me say that I wasn't able to put down "Tracking Shadows" once I started reading it.  It is a book that immediately interested me because I had to get my head around the film noir atmosphere with the tinge of a science fiction addition.  I loved it from the first paragraph.

Regan Black has the mind and hand of a Mickey Spillane on steroids.  I couldn't stop reading her sassy lines from characters that grabbed me like a steel wrench.  Her anti heroine, Trina, is the alpha woman we dream of being...smart, beautiful and strong in a man's world, but sensitive, and carrying around that emptiness that the love of life can only fill.  She's scarred by the loss of her childhood sweetheart, the only person who made her feel safe from a family who mistreated and beat her down emotionally.  As and adult, she finds the physical and intellectual outlet for her emptiness and her psychic gifts by becoming an A+ assassin bent on revenge for those who killed Joel, that childhood friend.

Joel has become Slick Mickey, the biggest gangster smuggler in Chicago, with a staff of "mules" who distribute contriband to those who pay for it in secret.  The title of Slick Mickey is coveted by gangster rivals, and assassins are recruited to knock Mickey out of his seat of power.  With technologies and gifts of his own culled from the 2096 futuristic discoveries, Slick Mickey is able to maintain a fortress of security, and a family loyal to his secure and family-like ways.  There appears to be a soft center at the heart of this mobster boss who only deals in sugar, coffee and cigarettes, and not drugs and dangerous contraband unlawful to the futuristic government.

It is through the impact of Trina and Slick Mickey's ill-fated reunion that we experience the tension of love and hate on the characters.  They are wonderfully and richly developed.  Each of them are characters who seem alive and emotive people; they kept me in mind of a younger Russell Crowe, and a Scarlet Johansen couple.  Tough and tender...

The technological components of this book are subtle and don't overtake the story which was refreshing for one who isn't quite capable of understanding all the nuances of that sort of thing.  There was just enough to keep a novice interested, maybe a little more than that, but not enough to make one set aside the book in frustration.

Ms Black has written quite a few books in the 2096 timeframe, which is of great interest to me now that she's gotten me started!  I'm going to be looking for her books and reading them in sequence.  I like her writing style.

Regan Black has a certain edgy quality to her writing.  She writes like an old "beat" reporter in a way.  It's just awesome to read.  If you're a fan of old 1940's detective novels, or if you like film noir..."The Postman Always Rings Twice" or "The Black Dahlia,"  I believe you'll like "Tracking Shadows."  It's not that the book is so much like those I mention above in full...it's just that flavor kick that's so unusual, I predict you'll want to come back for more.

5 stars for "Tracking Shadows"

*Please follow the next Tour of Regan Black's book on http://deeas-journal.blogspot.com/  She will have a different view, no doubt! Have fun with Regan's tours!

If you've made it this far, you're a true reader and follower of The Bookish Dame Reviews and we sincerely thank you!  Happy reading this weekend!    Deborah/TheBookishDame

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Art History Buffs and Historical Novel Fans Will Devour "The Confessions of Catherine de Medici" by C. W. Gortner

The Hard Cover Issue

The New Paperback Issue

Book Summary:

The truth is, not one of us is innocent. We all have sins to confess. So reveals Catherine de Medici, the last legitimate descendant of her family’s illustrious line. Expelled from her native Florence, Catherine is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France. In an unfamiliar realm, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children in a kingdom torn apart by the ambitions of a treacherous nobility. Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons, unaware that if she is to save France, she may have to sacrifice her ideals, her reputation, and the secret of her embattled heart.

About the Author:

C. W. Gortner, half-Spanish by birth, holds an M.F.A. in writing, with an emphasis on historical studies, from the New College of California and has taught university courses on women of power in the Renaissance. He was raised in Málaga, Spain, and now lives in California.

He is the author of several historical novels, including:
"The Tudor Secret" (below) and "The Last Queen."

My Review:

"Confessions of Catherine de Medici" is a novel that art historians and historical fiction lovers will simply devour once they get their hands on it. I know, because I am of that ilk! This book is as close to reading someone else's diary as one could get were it not for the extraordinary descriptive details that highlight the story.

Written by the hand of a wizard, the novel is riddled with unbelievably gorgeous descriptions of architecture, artworks, tapestries, gardens and garments. That alone could make me an avid fan, but to top that off, Mr. Gortner is a writer of such an all inclusive style that I hung on his every word. To him, history is not dull, and he conveys that in every sentence of this powerful, absorbing book.

Catherine de Medici has long been a figure I've been interested in knowing more about. I was an Art History major in college, including concentrations in Fine Arts and Museum Studies. The Medicis absolutely captured my fantasies because of their collections of art, their wealth, their bent toward evil doings and their intrigues. They were handsome, gorgeous and insane, while they built a Florence that became the jewel of Italy. Fascinating stuff! So, Catherine de Medici, the last of the Medici and only surviving grandchild of Lorenzo the Magnificent had to be exceptional and endowed with dazzling gifts of mind and spirit.

Mr. Gortner makes all of his characters come alive. His easy manner of introducing and evolving the emotional make up of the primary characters makes them feel like they have walked into your life, literally. I fell in love with the young Catherine and her devastating childhoood, suffered with her young bridal years, agonized over her love life, and fought with her for her children and country. What a heroine she was, and how vulnerable Gortner made her, as well as making her a lioness befitting her royal heritage.

Mr. Gortner's research and writing of his historical novel seems meant to reach a wide audience, although directed mostly to women. His concerns address the historical significance of Catherine de Medici as a major woman of the 16th c. It also seems to me that he writes in order to highlight the strengths that a spirit can rise to and overcome under duress in life. Women are most often the ones who carry burdens of balancing difficult tasks, caring for home, children, poverty and wartime backlash...Mr. Gortner's book offers Catherine de Medici as a historic figure who represents real life heroics women have achieved throughout time.

When all the dots have been placed and the commas laid in properly, "Confessions of Catherine de Medici" is simply a wonderful story to read. It will remind you of those books about Anne Bolyen and her sister we've all loved in the recent past, only Mr. Gortner writes much better.

5 stars for an author who will take you back to 16th century France.

TheBookishDame/Deborah

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